Live Video | Live Stats (Game 1) | Live Stats (Game 2) | Live Stats (Game 3)
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State softball team will venture into new waters as the Spartans hit the road for the first time this season and open conference play at Bethune-Cookman Saturday and Sunday.
The two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. before finishing up the series with a single game Sunday at noon. Live stats for the games can be found at www.b-cuathletics.com, and a live UStream video link of the games can also be found here.
The Spartans enters the weekend at 7-13 overall and winners of four of their last five after sweeping Savannah State on Monday, 6-5, 3-2. The Wildcats have dropped five of their last six and own a 12-20 overall record heading into Thursday's game against Central Florida.
About B-CU: The Wildcats have faced a difficult schedule early on with the likes of Kansas, North Carolina, Kent State and Charleston Southern, among others, but have been done in by their pitching. Bethune-Cookman pitchers have a collective 6.93 ERA and have given up 27 home runs in 32 games.
Allison Garcia leads the Wildcats at the plate and in the circle, hitting .311 with a team-leading five home runs and 22 RBI while owning a 7-8 record with a 4.54 ERA in 119.0 innings pitched. Michelle Banuelos-Smith owns a .360 average with nine doubles and 20 RBI, and Cesley Tafoya (.305, five doubles, 17 RBI) and Ashton Hinds (.263, 28 runs, nine doubles, 12-of-12 on stolen base attempts) also add to the Wildcat attack.
Chastity Sanders carries a 4-7 record with a 6.26 ERA in 54.2 innings pitched. Sanders has started 13 games this year, while Shanel Tolbert rounds out the B-CU staff. Tolbert has a 1-5 record with a 17.05 ERA in 14 appearances. Opposing batters are hitting .332 off the Wildcat pitchers.
Scouting the Spartans: NSU's pitchers own a 3.72 ERA as the Spartans have won four of the last five games. The only setback during that time was a 5-4 loss in Game 2 of a doubleheader with Hampton on March 24.
Casey Pomeroy owns a 3-3 record with a 3.04 ERA, striking out 34 batters in 46.0 innings, including five complete games in eight starts. Alyssa Velazquez has made five starts, earning a 2-3 record with a 3.34 ERA. Elizabeth Castaneda also owns a 3.34 ERA in seven relief appearances, while Jamie Schulle has a 4.90 ERA in seven starts despite holding opponents to a .273 batting average.
After missing the first part of the season, third baseman Whitney Holland has stepped up, hitting .364 in eight games with nine RBI. Jeanette Sauceda has a team-leading .426 average with six doubles, 11 runs and nine RBI. Also hitting above .300 are catcher Kathy Cortez (.350, 13 runs, six RBI) and center fielder Danielle Wright (.344, team-leading 15 runs, four home runs, 14 RBI, 13 stolen bases).
In addition, first baseman Melina Valles (.255, eight RBI), outfielder Morgan Boyd (.239, 11 hits, four stolen bases) and designated player Nikki Jones (.227, 10 runs) have all played key roles for the NSU offense.
Last Time Out: NSU defeated Savannah State with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 win before holding on in Game 2 by a 3-2 margin over the Tigers on Monday at the NSU Softball Field.
Nikki Jones hit a bloop single to center to score the winning run in Game 1, as NSU rallied from an early 3-0 deficit. Jones added a pair of hits and two RBI, while Whitney Holland went 3-for-4 with two RBI. The Spartans scored four runs in the last three innings, while both teams left 10 runners on base in the game.
Jeanette Sauceda had a 3-for-3 effort at the plate in Game 2, while Alyssa Velazquez allowed just five hits and two earned runs in seven innings. Sauceda's RBI double in the bottom of the fifth scored catcher Kathy Cortez for the eventual winning run.
MEAC Leaderboard: As a team, NSU ranks second in the conference with a 3.72 ERA and third with a .270 batting average. On an individual basis, Danielle Wright ranks second in stolen bases (13), tied for fourth in home runs (4) and fifth in slugging percentage (.574). Casey Pomeroy (3.04) and Alyssa Velazquez (3.34) stand 4-5 in ERA. Velazquez ranks first in the MEAC in walks allowed per nine innings (0.72).
Jeanette Sauceda ranks fourth in on-base percentage (.484) and fifth in batting average (.426). Along with Kathy Cortez and Danielle Wright, NSU has three of the top 10 hitters in the league.
NSU on a Hot Streak: Winners of four of their last five, the Spartans have hit .331 as a team during that time with a 1.91 team ERA. NSU has doubled up its opponents, 26-13, in runs scored, and has limited the opposition to a .237 batting average. Third baseman Whitney Holland has added eight RBI in those five games.
Breaking Out of Their Slump: Several Spartans have heated up at the plate recently after a slow start to the season. Morgan Boyd and Gipsy Ramirez each have five hits in the last four games, while Nikki Jones added three hits in the two games against Savannah State. All three have raised their averages at least .048 points, and Jones and Ramirez each hit their first collegiate home runs.
NSU is hitting a collective .270 as a team on the year after posting a .251 batting average in 2010. The Spartans have hit seven home runs this year after having just five all of last year.
Up Next: NSU will return home but then turn right back around a few days later and head back to Florida to take on Florida A&M next Saturday and Sunday.
